Functional and non-functional diversity in organizations

Currently, the workforce in many organizations consists of varied composition as opposed in the past. The structure has been affected by continuous technology growth making the globe exist as one small village. The levels of immigration and economic factors like globalization have increased significantly. Diversity in workplaces is currently growing, and it is high in multinational countries. When people of different backgrounds come together, conflicts are likely to occur. The disputes affect the performance of employees thus that of the entire organization. The implementation of diversity is associated with various impacts to the group. Diversity has both negative and positive effects in an organization. The main challenge associated with diversity is the confusion resulting from functional diversity and other forms of on-functional diversity. Functional diversity leads to more effective function and innovation.

In the workplace, there are various forms of diversity. Most of the factors are not focused towards promoting the performance of an organization. Diversity and conflicts are mostly related. It is because when employees from different backgrounds, age, and gender work together, differences are likely to emerge. The conflicts usually have both negative and positive effects to the organization since the conflicts are characterized as a task, interpersonal and procedural. Task conflict may lead to either poor performance or improved performance. Interpersonal conflicts are only associated with negative effects, and in most cases, the participants end up losing their jobs and poor performance of the company. Procedural conflicts have the positive performance to organizations since they help in decision making.

Diversification in companies should be well addressed to ensure that the conflicts associated with it are curbed and proper running of the company. This paper, therefore, highlights the research project on the impacts of diversity and conflicts on employees and organization. The paper examines decision making, company performance, building group cohesion, poor cooperation and poor communication. The data necessary data is collected from social media then analyzed. The results of the study are used to make recommendations which will keep firms in better performance position.

The growing workforce diversification has facilitated the research on this topic in all parts of the globe. Continuous growth of technology has played a critical role towards the research on the topic. The fact that some companies have been reported to have performed poorly due to conflicts arising from diversification. There is an urgent need for businesses to identify the impacts of diversity and conflicts on employees and organizations so that the results can be applied in companies. The results of the study will be useful to wide range of firms since they will apply them with immediate effect to strengthen their areas of weakness. Processes in organizations will end up flowing expectedly, and objectives will be achieved within the stipulated period.  

Types of diversity-related conflicts in the workplace

This section outlines the methodology employed throughout the study. It consists of: research design, target population, sampling procedures, description of the research instrument, validity and reliability of the instrument, data collection methods and data analysis procedures.

Descriptive survey design was used in this study. The study relies heavily on secondary data from journal articles. Social media composed of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram are the major sources of information (De Witm, Greer & Jehn, 2012). The reactions of social media users on the impacts of diversity and conflicts on employees and organizations are observed and recorded. The impacts under consideration are companies’ performance, improved decision making, cooperation, communication and building cohesion. Data is observed within five years (2012-2017) from the social media sites. The sample size is undefined since there was uncertainty on the number of individuals who are going to use the social media channels within the period. The collected data will be entered into the system using Gen Stat software and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 24 and Microsoft Excel 2016.

The study targeted the employees and the management of the business organization. These are the individuals who might have directly or indirectly experienced the effect of diversity and conflicts in various organizations.

The research was based on a certain locality, but it took care of all organization globally. The results of the study will be therefore useful to all business organization irrespective of the fields of operation.

After the data was obtained from social networking media, it was keenly edited for completeness and consistency. Then coding errors and omissions were checked. The coded data were processed using IBM SPSS-software and analyzed by use of descriptive statistics. The researcher further organized the raw data into categories according to research questions and established expected theme categories for qualitative data.

Data was presented using charts and tables. Bar charts, histograms, and pie charts were widely used.

The paper relies on secondary data to determine the impacts of diversity and conflicts on employees and organization. Social media channels including YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are highly reliable.  Conflicts occurring in organizations are many. In many cases, conflicts arise when an organization involves employees from diverse backgrounds and whenever there is uncertainty on what an individual is expected to do (Shin, Kim, Lee & Bian, 2012). A theoretical foundation for diversity in the workplace can be found in research regarding social networks.

Addressing diversification in companies

The organizational perspective on diversity is an organizational issue and acts as a point of connection for individuals despite any differences in the socio-demographic and a variety of characteristics (Fitzsimmons, 2013). The information and decision making is another aspect which serves as theoretical means of understanding the link between organizational diversity and organizational effectiveness (Scott, Richard & Gerald, 2015). There exist a strong link between organizational effectiveness and organizational diversity. The processing of information and making a decision is comprised of the cognitive resource diversity theory which highlights that the cognitive resources of each team member play an essential role towards the success of the business. As a result, the diversity of cognitive resources promotes creativity and decision making.

Socially diversity has also been an area of concern from past studies. There exist evidence that individuals of similar characterizations will be able to work together in a more effective manner (Lauring & Selmer, 2012). The social categories include age, gender, and ethnicity. Many organizations focus on means of accessing external networks as well as a source of increasing conflicts between individual within a social group (Wang et,.al 2013). The social organization perspective is regarded as amongst the most significant aspects of conflicts and loss of efficiency within organizations related to the alignment of persons along social identity lines.

The impacts associated with diversity can be either positive or negative. On the positive side diversification and conflicts may lead to the formulation of a better decision. Arguments within employees and the management in an organization may lead to arrival at the best decision (Miller & Barbour, 2014). Whenever the best decisions are formulated within an organization, good performance is also achieved. Diversity has also been portrayed as a cohesion building medium. According to Olsen and Martins (2012), when people from different backgrounds are brought to work together friendship relations are created amongst them. The multinational companies are playing a critical role in building global cohesion.

On the negative side, diversity is associated with poor performance of an organization. Whenever conflicts arise between the employees or the management, it is likely that policies are not formulated and formulated well (De Witm, Greer & Jehn, 2012). The organization may undergo a lot of loss which may hinder it from achieving the set goals. Poor cooperation and communication is also associated with diversity and can interfere with company’s performance. Lack of cooperation and poor communication also results from conflicts (Qian, Cao & Takeuchi, 2013). When cooperation and communication fail to exist in the firm, it means that transactions are not flowing efficiently. As a result, huge losses may be made which may be difficult to recover. Organizations should ensure that diversity and conflicts within agencies are adequately addressed. It will provide a smooth flow of events thus creating an opportunity for good performance within the organization.

The methodology employed for the study

Many online social media site, for instance, twitter, Pin interest, my space, Instagram, and so forth have become a major part of most individuals in the world. The social media has constituted a great change in the way people perform their activities. Technology advancement has eased work to many people among the researchers who conduct studies in different fields. A high number of have given a wide attention to the social media platform as a center of data gathering. The online sites have been used by many scholars to conduct studies on the impact of diversity and conflict on employee performance in organizations (Pettigrew, 2014). Most companies prime themselves on having a diversified workforce comprised of persons with a wide range of experiences and characteristics. The key characteristics that these organizations consider are gender, age, ability, sexual orientation, religion among others.

Management prefers a diversified workforce which unlimited to race, background, geographical location, political beliefs, and others. Conflict is a state of discord brought about by the real or perceived as an opposition to the needs, interests, and values among parties working together (Tjosvold, Wong & Feng, 2014). The performance impacts that are caused by an organization by conflicts and diversity can either be positive or negative (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). The parties experiencing conflicts react in different ways. Studies carried out by other researchers base their arguments on a number of the impacts that the two experience on the organization’s performance. They include improved decision making, improved company performance, poor cooperation, poor communication and cohesion building with the organization. The literature on the below impacts was gathered using the online social media indicate by preceding researchers.

Decision making is a process of choosing a logical option from the present choices. When intending to make a good decision, an individual should weigh both the merits and demerits of each option and put all the alternatives in consideration (Lovan & Davis, 2017). A person or an organization should be able to predict the result of each option for effective decision making as well as a base all the items to come up with a decision on which option is suitable for the certain problem. People have different views and opinions on the different situation (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). This is because they all have different abilities, backgrounds, beliefs and other characteristics. Therefore, bringing together a diversified workforce within an organization is beneficial as there will be sharing of ideas amongst themselves. When people share ideas, there is a possibility that the decision which will reach at the end will be the best option for a solution to an underlying problem (Carlton & Perloff, 2015). People tend to reason better and agree with a common a most suitable decision in unison. Before diversifying the workforce in an organization, management should think about what its organization does and more so better than its rivals.

Theoretical foundations for diversity in the workplace

Large firms are likely to have a diversified workforce due to their numerous activities that bring together people from different departments. It is from this view that the organizations make informed decisions as people are skilled in their areas of specialization hence good decisions are reached (Burg, 2014). However, though the decisions made are highly informed, the process is criticized for being slow due to many processes involved. Before a decision is approved, there will be many stages within the organization that it is taken through for confirmation (Ford & Richardson, 2013). Also, conflicts within company’s contributions to the improvement of the decision making the process as the individuals involved intend to work well to perfect their areas of duty (Barak, 2016). The manager tries to avoid conflicts at all cost because it brings about persons pushing for their interests. The management should only back conflicts that are likely to bring advantage to the organization. They should discourage conflicts such as competing for resources to ensure that they achieve the set common goals.

Diversification of employees has become an inevitable option for many organizations that aim to be in line with the future economic and social changes. This has forced many systems to come up with an established a program that allows diversified working styles (Dipboye & Colella, 2013). According to a study conducted in Japan, if employees are presented with a chance to expertise the abilities fully, despite the working patterns, according to their will, it would possibly result in improved performance and hence productivity (Nica, 2013). This would in turn help in revitalizing the economy of Japan and other parts of the world as well. When an economy is diversified, people engage in undertaking their activities in areas that they are well suited and this creates more chances for employees as well as widening the economy.

Organizations should embrace certain conditions to achieve diversification of their operational processes. To attain economic change and improved performance from the workforce, businesses should diversify working styles to correspond with the social and economic changes in the current market. Most feedbacks from respondents through the social media online platform show that employees prefer diversified working conditions. Through the online information obtained in previous studies, employees suggest that they should be presented with fair treatment and preferred that performance appraisal. It is necessary to ensure that workers are treated according to their real performance and can be satisfied with the roles they play and expertise their willingness and abilities. It is important to employ a diversified workforce that will conduct its activities with the common objective set by the organization.

Positive and negative impacts of diversity on organizations

Organizations that clarify roles that employees perform. This will help the good general performance as employees will perform willingly and avoid conflicts amongst themselves. When employees have their interests, they are likely to perform better as they would be looking for recognition from the management. The management encourages this types of conflict because it is likely to result in an increased quality productivity (Nica, 2013). This will, in turn, improve the overall company performance. Diversity gives a chance for employees who used to deal with hard tasks alone share them with their fellow workmates. Through sharing of ideas, tasks that seemed complicated are solved with less effect.

Within any organization, numerous issues result in conflicts. Other conflicts may also be personal. For example, if someone is not sure about the tasks they are supposed to do. According to data gathered through LinkedIn, employees develop conflicts with their selves if they do not get the duties assigned to them are not properly defined to them. Moreover, it is likely for conflicts to arise between characters who work as a group (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015). The presence of a certain group in a company leads to poor cooperation since there will be no unity. When this event occurs, is possible that the goals will not be specified as for the group but people will take them personally. Handling tasks that were designed for a group personally will adversely affect the outcome of an organization as there will be no unity. Failure to cooperate as a group is specifically designed for a team is resulted by disagreement that occurs due failure of employees to recognize the diversification among themselves. Employees should be able to balance their personal lives when at work to ensure a smooth run of activities. It is crucial for an organization to maintain mental and physical health for all staff uniformly to ensure that there is fair treatment across the organization.

The problem of cooperation can be resolved by employing people on a short-term basis. It helps in ensuring that people do not stay within an organization for a long time until they start developing their motives and hatred (Slaikeu & Hasson, 2012). Conflicts that arise between employees affect their performance as they will be not happy when performing their duties and they may underperform. Diversification of employees in organizations should be seen as a point of unison rather than people tending to feel like their background, political beliefs, the ethnic race among other factors are more important than those of their fellow staff.   

The role of social media in studying diversity and conflicts

People who develop conflicts between themselves see their workmate as their enemies which is not the actual picture (Weber, Rachman & Tarba, 2012). Thus, they tend to avoid them if they were leading a task within the organization. The avoidance may probably lead to poor communication channels with a company as those conflicting will not be ready to listen to what others say. Also, those tasked with the dissemination of certain information may opt to hold the information made for other characters to see them not do what their seniors directed them to do. The may also give the wrong information to employees they had conflicts with the view that the seniors will be upset with them and terminate their employment (Katzenbach & Smith, 2015).

The poor communication cost the organization a lot of time in redoing tasks that could have been easily managed in the first attempt. Also, resources that could have been allocated for other tasks end up being used for replacing the spoilt ones due to poor communication articulated to conflicts.       

On the other hand, diversification brings the difference between employees who have different backgrounds, beliefs, ethnic races among other factors. Employees within different organizations tend to favor those that are from the same geographical regions, speak the same language and share other numerous characteristics (Rummler & Brache, 2012). This makes them develop a certain perspective to others. The result of the distinguished diversifications within an organization exert adverse effects in its performance as people will be performing according to their common characteristics (Voegtlin, Patzer & Scherer, 2012). Those who share similar character tend to be open to each other more than those who are from different background and possess other characteristics as well as sharing information in the same perspective (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015). The level of poor communication caused by conflicts and diversity of employees greatly affect the overall productivity of the company.             

Not all conflicts result to negative impacts within an organization. There are some positive effects that conflicts and diversity can bring to an organization. When employees collide with their fellows on a certain issue in the activities, it is possible for them to come together and try to establish a common rightful solution to the problem (Madapusi & D’Souza, 2012). Through sharing of ideas and respecting the views of others within the organization, people can establish a strong common base for the smooth operation. When this is the case, the organization is the chief beneficial because employees will perform best if they feel that their views are acknowledged and respected by other people including the seniors. If employees establish a common solution to their conflicts, it strengthens their friendship and unity in the organization (Slaikeu & Hasson, 2012).

Key characteristics of a diversified workforce

Similarly, when employees within an organization are employed from different regions, ethnicity, political beliefs, religion, etc. they tend to share their different views from their point of view. Through this, they get to learn new ideas from their fellow workmates (Bezrukova, Thatcher, Jehn & Spell, 2012). The sharing of ideas regardless of a person’s background makes them feel like part of the organization and thus are likely to perform best.

From work done by other researchers, it is clear that diversity and conflicts have effects on the general performance of an organization. However, as perceived by many people that the impacts of the two factor are negative, this is not the case. Conflicts and diversity within an organization have both positive and negative impact. Though the negatives seem to outweigh the positives, it is important to have this kind of scenarios in the organization to perform accordingly (Sharma, Chrisman & Chua, 2012).   

Conclusion: 

The research question; what impacts do conflicts and diversity of employee have on the general organization performance has been addressed by the discussed four effects. It has been seen that conflict and diversity have both positive and negative effect. The discussed positive impacts that the factors bring in a firm are improved decision making and cohesion among the employees whereas the negatives are poor cooperation and poor communication. The factors can be of advantage and at the same time demerit to an organization. However, with keen management, an organization can reap maximum benefits from diversity and conflicts by ensuring that employees see them from the right perspective.

1. Organizations should educate employees on the benefits of diversification
2. Organizations should put measures in place to train employees on how to solve conflicts whenever they arise between themselves.

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